President’s Message to the Community - November
College Mission Statement: The College of Micronesia-FSM is a learner-centered institution of higher education that is committed to the success of the Federated States of Micronesia by providing academic and career & technical educational programs characterized by continuous improvement and best practices.
It has been a few months since I have shared news from the college so this message will offer highlights from several months.
Accreditation: The college is preparing its 2023 Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ISER) due to a peer review team on August 1, 2022. The next steps are for college committees to review the draft report, finalize a draft for endorsement by the Board of Regents in May 2022, make all final edits and submit the report by August 1, 2022. The college will announce an opportunity for the community to submit third party comments to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) as part of the review process.
Presidential Search: The Board of Regents have initiated a new search for president of the college. A search committee has been established and the position will be announced soon on the college employment website and with other agencies that advertise positions for higher education. The college encourages all interested persons to apply or recommend someone to apply for the position.
The Center for Entrepreneurship received several grants to enhance the hydroponics green house project. One grant was from the Australian Government which provided solar power to run the project greenhouse at National Campus. A second grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) will help expand the project to all four states by providing greenhouses, hydroponics systems and solar power. The project at National Campus has been providing fresh produce for the college dining hall over the past year. (pictures)
Ground breaking on the Multipurpose Technical Building at CTEC was held July 21, 2021. The project contract is funded through Compact Infrastructure Development funds in the amount of $5.38 million. ABCOR was awarded the project and construction began on September 1 with a scheduled completion date of August 2023. The building will be classrooms as well as lab space for career and technical education courses.
The college began an Employee of the Month program in June 2021 to recognize employees demonstrating professionalism and teamwork, two of the college core values. The Employee of the Month-November is Beveryln Buw student services specialist with Upward Bound at Yap Campus. Previous employees are Marlina Kephas-June from Kosrae Campus; Phyllis Silbanuz-July from CTEC; Lorenzo Rull-August from National Campus; Danilo Mamangon-September from Chuuk Campus; Petrus Ken-October from FSM-FMI. Employee of the year 2021 will be selected from among these employees. Congratulations to our employees of the month 2021.
The holiday season is upon us and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone is able to spend time with family and friends. I express my heartfelt appreciation to you for all your work, efforts, and dedication to the students we serve. The last year has been a year of many changes and each of you have provided support for each other and for the students. We look forward to the challenges of more changes in the future. The mission, values and plans that have carried us forward the past few years will continue to guide COM-FSM’s purpose.
It is an honor for me to serve you as interim president.
Sincerely,
Karen Simion,
Interim President
